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Latest For the Birds column: Persistence pays off in birding

Here is the latest For the Birds column, which runs in several New England newspapers.

Photo by Chris BosakA Great Egret stands on a deck railing overlooking the Norwalk River in Norwalk, Conn., April 2016.

Photo by Chris BosakA Snowy Egret looks for food in Norwalk Harbor.

Persistence, practice and patience will often make things that seem so difficult at the beginning become relatively easy.

It can be said of just about any hobby, but it certainly applies to birdwatching.

I can remember struggling with differentiating great egrets from snowy egrets. It seems somewhat silly now. Great egrets are markedly larger, have yellow bills and black legs and feet. Snowy egrets, aside from being much smaller, have black bills, black legs and yellow feet.

The differences are clear and obvious. But, as a beginner, I saw only tall white birds, and telling them apart was a challenge.

Trying to decide if I was looking at a downy or hairy woodpecker was another early sticking point. It took me years to come up with an easy way to tell the species apart. Aside from size, downys and hairys are identical — right down to the difference between the sexes. Over time, however, I had seen enough of both to know that a hairy woodpecker’s bill, even without a size reference, is substantially larger than that of a downy’s.

Similar experiences occurred with wood thrushes and hermit thrushes; black ducks and mallards; house finches and purple finches.

Just when you think you’ve got this birding thing down, though, there’s something to knock you down a peg or two to show you how much more there is to learn.

Sure, wood thrushes and hermit thrushes are easy to tell apart now, but what if you throw in Swainson’s and Bicknell’s thrush? What about northern waterthrush and Louisiana waterthrush? Common tern and Forster’s tern? Least sandpiper and semipalmated sandpiper?

Unless you are an expert or have a special birding gift, there will always be something to learn. There will always be something to throw you for a loop just when you start feeling a little too confident.

It’s easy to get frustrated when that happens.

Semipalmated sandpiper or least sandpiper? Geez, I should know that by now, I’d think. And then I’d wonder what was wrong with me.

When frustration sets in, it’s important to look back on how far you’ve come, even though that’s not so easy when the frustration is at its peak. That’s good advice for anything in life, really.

I thought about that the other day as I watched a great egret and snowy egret hunting the same hot spot along Long Island Sound. As the waders crossed paths and briefly stood right next to each other, the differences were glaring. The great egret towered over the snowy and the snowy’s yellow feet glowed like beacons.

I love watching egrets. I slow the car when I see them along the roadside, and take time to enjoy them when I’m birdwatching or simply taking a walk.

In inland New Hampshire, snowy egrets are a rare sighting indeed — in fact, they are rarely seen away from the coast. Great egrets are more common in the Monadnock Region, but far from a daily occurrence.

But I look forward to seeing these birds when I visit the coast, especially farther south. They are plentiful and fun to watch.

5 thoughts on “Latest For the Birds column: Persistence pays off in birding”

Yes, patience and persistence are key, not just for proper identification but for getting that great photo. The birds certainly don’t stay put like the flowers do! Love your photos that accompany this piece.

Hi Chris — I came down on the train from Hartford to NYC a week ago. I saw lots of white egrets in the marshes in the Norwalk area.
I enjoyed this post very much — wonderful egrets & interesting information.
Best Susan